In light of projected climate change impacts in the Baltic Sea region, there is a strong need for enhanced understanding about adaptation needs. In this regard, the role of local level decision makers will be crucial to the success of such adaptation strategies. This primer aims to provide local decision makers with insights and knowledge on the subject. This primer has been prepared as part of the project RADOST (Regional Adaptation Strategies for the
German Baltic Sea Coast), which is funded by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Adaptation to climate change requires the implementation of new and revision of existing policies in order to change collective behaviour in a way that reduces vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, the efficiency of environmental governance has been questioned due to perceived deficiencies in implementation in the past. As a consequence, it is observed that high levels of adaptive capacity are often not used for adaptive action, and therefore communities remain vulnerable. This thesis is looking at the socio-cognitive dimension of adaptation from the perspective of socio-cultural construction of values and practices that influence risk perceptions and behavioural intentions in coastal management and adaptation to climate variability and change. The construction of values and practices is analysed through discursive fields on the respective topics in local media from three states on the US mid-Atlantic coast.